Booksmart’ Sets Tone for a New Generation

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019 | SERVING CHICAGO’S LEGAL COMMUNITY FOR 164 YEARS | CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM

VOLUME 165, NO. 106 Poignant ‘Booksmart’ sets tone for a new generation

In “Booksmart,” actress “You guys don’t even care Amy’s lesbianism is treated Olivia Wilde’s (“The O.C.,” about school,” Molly cries. matter-of-factly and with good “House”) directorial debut, “No,” a fellow future Bulldog humor as both girls suffer the Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and corrects her, “we just don’t agony of first crushes and the Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) are vale - only care about school.” anxiety of separation that dictorian and salutatorian, Acerbic Molly and intro - looms on their horizon. respectively, of their high verted Amy never partied “This is not a movie about school graduating class. because they wanted to get two nerdy girls trying to assim - Molly is headed for Yale, and into good schools. As a result, ilate,” Wilde told the Times. Amy will spend a gap year in nobody knows they’re fun. “It’s about them learning to Botswana before matriculating Now, on the eve of gradua - accept others.” at Columbia University. tion, they have one night to REBECCA L. FORD Jessica Williams (“The Daily The vibe at their progressive make up for lost time. Their Show,” “Two Dope Queens”) is school, where Wilde’s hus - goal is to find their way to the the hip young teacher who has band Jason Sudeikis plays the senior class’ unchaperoned REBECCA L. FORD is counsel at trouble establishing bound - beleaguered principal, is so blowout house party. Other - Scharf Banks Marmor LLC, and aries with her students. Lisa touchy-feely that students are wise, their teen years will have concentrates her practice on Kudrow and Will Forte play discouraged from discussing been significantly squandered. complex litigation, compliance, Amy’s cluelessly accepting par - where they have been admit - It is the road trip to the board governance and ents. Mason Gooding, son of ted to college. party that marks their true specialized employment issues. Cuba, plays Molly’s hunky Overbearing, overachieving commencement. She is the former executive vice crush, and Billie Lourd, daugh - Molly overreaches by deliver - Director Wilde, who views president for litigation and ter of Carrie Fisher, is a wacky ing a coup de grace to class - her own career as having been intellectual property at MGM. Harvard-bound classmate. mates, congregated in the limited by blonde-seductress She can be reached at Part “Bridesmaids,” part apparently genderless bath - typecasting, told The New [email protected]. “After Hours” and part “Risky room, who dis her behind her York Times that directing Business,” Wilde’s girl-buddy back. The hurtful barbs of “Booksmart” was “the first job foundational to many coming- movie is the “Superbad” of its these losers don’t matter to I’ve ever had that wasn’t of-age movies. generation. (“Superbad” star her, she’s going to Yale. entirely dependent on and Wilde firmly sends the mes - Jonah Hill is Feldstein’s older Molly, the smug super connected to my looks.” sage that one can be intelli - brother.) achiever, is shocked to learn Conscious and confident gent and convivial, socially Poignant, gender-positive and her tormentors will be Ivy Lea - even within the movie’s R rat - awkward and socially engaged, hilarious, “Booksmart” is des - guers too — except for the ing, Wilde doesn’t gratu - independent without being tined to become the defining guy who’s going straight to a itously embed the scatological isolated and sexual without coming-of-age movie for the six-figure coding gig at Google. male-pleasing tropes that are being exploited. next decade of the millennium.